


Outside Observer

by madamecrimson



Series: Anything Like That [2]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment, Watcher Entertainment (Web Series)
Genre: M/M, Spoilers, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:41:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22572667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamecrimson/pseuds/madamecrimson
Summary: Spoilers for Watcher Weekly #005.Sara had come by that day to help shoulder some of the editing during a particularly tight time crunch. Steven had liked Sara as a person since they had both started working at Buzzfeed. She was smart and sarcastic in a no nonsense sort of way, creative and easy to be around. He was also endlessly grateful that they had an extra person there who would pop in from time to time to help out while they were still trying to figure out their staffing needs. While their team was taking a break from editing, Steven found himself watching Shane and Ryan and their bizarre dynamic. Buzzfeed was an incredibly physically affectionate environment, despite Shane being a bit more closed off, Ryan often sporting his former frat boy resistance to it, and Steven lingering on the shy side of things. Sure Steven had given into the physical affection at times for the sake of others who were just naturally affectionate like Zach in their episode of "Worth It," but that was also why Ryan's sudden affection had thrown him completely off guard.
Relationships: Background Shane Madej/Sara Rubin - Relationship, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej, background Ryan Bergara/Marielle Scott
Series: Anything Like That [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622158
Kudos: 68





	Outside Observer

Ryan had spent just as much time with Shane, if not more, than he had with Steven. In fact it probably was more. And sure, they would physically lean towards or pull away one another but Steven had never seen them actually touch unless it had served a purpose for a shoot, such as them holding hands during the seance in "Weird Wonderful World." If it had just been a matter of the two of them being uncomfortable with most physical touch, Steven would have probably left it at that. If Ryan had been throwing his arm around Steven and touching his knee or squeezing his hip at seemingly random times, Steven would have found it odd, but would have assumed that Ryan was just trying to get a rise out of him. But Ryan was doing this more and more, only ever when Shane was around, eyes dancing as he tried to draw out a reaction from the taller man. 

Steven had his eyes fixed on the pair that morning, and was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the soft patter of flats sliding up next to him. "Sweet, isn't it? It's like a...cheesy high school romantic comedy from the 90s but they never make it to prom." Sara took a sip of her tea, tapping contemplatively at the side of her metal thermos, and looking up bemusedly at Steven. 

Part of him thought she might be joking like the rest of their staff, but he could tell from her demeanor that she wasn't. 

"So it's not just me that thinks they're actually...you know," Steven mumbled. 

Sara chuckled. "Oh everyone knows they are, they'll just never admit it. During the last season of "Unsolved," Shane called Ryan his "friend" so many times that fans started keeping count. He wanted to put people's suspicions to rest, but ended up doing the exact opposite." She hid a playful smirk as she drank from her thermos again. 

"But why though? Does Shane think you'll be mad or something?" Steven wanted to confirm, glancing over at her. 

Sara shook her head, her dyed curls bouncing with the movement. "He knows I wouldn't be. I've told him point blank. Mari's said the same thing to Ryan. But whenever I bring it up, he goes quiet. For as smart as they are, they can be really fucking dumb sometimes." 

Steven nodded in reply, a moment of silence passing between them before he spoke again. "So if you wouldn't be mad, and Mari wouldn't be mad, then why...?"

Sara giggled. "Like I said, they're dumb. Everyone can see what's going on. They're not nearly as slick as they think they are." Steven couldn't help but grin a bit at her flat tone. 

"But," Sara sighed, watching the two of them. "They're also scared out of their minds. Even more than ghosts. Or, in Shane's case, of someone thinking he's a believer." 

"We live in LA," Steven defended, still completely baffled. "Like...2/3 of the staff at Buzzfeed wasn't straight."

"It's not that," Sara replied softly. 

"Then what, were they afraid of...of losing their show? Their image?" Steven went on.

Sara shook her head again. "They could have gone their separate ways, and wrapped up "Unsolved" much earlier." 

"So why start a company together? Why bring me into it?" Steven frowned, his jaw clenching slightly. "I'm some kind of pawn, aren't I?" 

Sara turned to look at him. "That's not it, I promise it's not," she assured him earnestly. "They both really like working with you; they knew you'd take this seriously and actually put in the effort."

Steven met her gaze, still appearing lost. Sara sighed heavily. "They're terrified of losing each other, and messing up the closeness that they do have," she explained. "Everyone plays up conflict for the camera, but when their relationship became the main focus of "Unsolved," they played it up even more, had the fans taking sides."

"So that's the whole Shaniacs and Boogaras thing?" Steven inquired. 

"Yeah," Sara confirmed. "And because they played up the conflict for so long, when Weird Wonderful World came out, fans noticed right away that Shane was...embracing the seance. That he was down right excited about it." 

Steven blinked as he allowed that information to settle into his mind. "But I thought they were trying to get away from their "Unsolved" stuff." 

Sara quirked an eyebrow. "By going to a store full of cursed objects and doing a seance?" she replied flatly. Steven blanched; he didn't have a response to that. 

"They want to _expand_ their content. They want ideas that aren't just from their own minds. But any third person would have shaken up their dynamic," Sara explained reassuringly. "It's like...they don't know what to do with themselves now that they don't have a familiar formula to hide behind." 

"That would explain a lot," Steven admitted. "How come you and Mari haven't tried to...you know, make them tell each other?" 

Sara laughed at that. "Believe me, we've both tried, but we can't force them to get together." 

Steven's face suddenly broke into a sly smirk. Sara looked at him curiously, and he could see the deviousness in her eyes.

"So what exactly are you planning?" Sara asked, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice. 

"You'll see," Steven replied simply. 

* * *

Over the following week, Steven decided to play a little with the Shane and Ryan dynamic that he had somehow been roped into unwillingly. He knew it wouldn't be that difficult to do so. Shane and Ryan were as in tune with one another as they were in denial, constantly lingering around the threshold of their friendship. Even the slightest outside force could easily upset the balance. Towards the beginning of the week, they had all been pitching ideas about what to do next with the shows they had created, and what might be good ideas for new ones. As the meeting drew to a close, Steven rose from his seat, and complemented Shane a second time on one of his ideas. As he was heading out the door, he clapped Shane on the shoulder. 

He made it appear as though he was going back to his desk, but feigned checking his e-mail on his phone as he remained nearby. 

"Shane, I don't follow baseball," Steven heard Ryan complain from the other room, unsure when exactly the subject change had taken place. 

"Why not? Is it really that much different from basketball?" Shane asked, and even though Steven couldn't see the horrified expression on Ryan's face, he had a pretty good idea of what it looked like. "It's a sport, there's a ball, you get uh...you get points." 

"Are you kidding me? They're completely different!" Ryan defended. "First of all, totally different pacing. Second of all..." 

Steven grinned to himself in amusement as he returned to his desk, leaving them to argue pointlessly. It literally took the smallest amount of jealousy to rile them up.

A few more times that week, Steven would randomly display a very light bit of physical attention toward Shane in Ryan's presence. Every single time, yet another pointless argument between Shane and Ryan would immediately follow. Ryan of course would end up trying to get the upper hand when they were around Shane, slinging an arm around Steven's shoulders, leaning a bit too close to him when they were crowded around someone's laptop, among other things. Steven would still state aloud when Ryan did these things, but that was honestly more out of habit, and not knowing how to respond to spontaneous platonic affection. Steven was building up to what he knew would come at the end of the week. The filming of Watcher Weekly. Each episode taping would wrap with a decision on what the seating arrangement would be for the following episode. At the end of Watcher Weekly #004, it had been decided that Steven and Shane would be sitting next to one another on the couch, and Ryan would take the chair. It had served as the perfect catalyst. 

* * *  
The episode started off pretty normally; a bit of banter here and there, conversations regarding some minutiae. Ryan indicated their logo that was now on the wall. Shane reached up one long arm to touch it and Steven mimicked the action. His chest lightly brushed up against Shane's back as he did so, and he watched as Ryan's expression changed. As last week had been a lot of "pull" between Shane and Ryan, Steven figured that this week might involve more "push." Still though, Steven could work with that. 

"I gotta say, it's my first week sitting in the middle. I think," Shane commented casually. 

"How do you feel about it?" Ryan asked with a smirk.

"Strange. I don't like it," Shane returned. 

"What don't you like about it?" Ryan replied quickly, shifting in his seat. And damn, sometimes Ryan's responses to Shane were so fast that Steven felt like he got whiplash. 

Shane complained about having to turn back and forth to talk to them both, indicating the comparative ease of sitting in the chair and facing the couch. 

"Seeing all the comments about couples counseling," Ryan went on, causing Steven to choke on his coffee and Shane to give Ryan a funny look. 

Steven had to admit that a lot of this week had been Shane and Ryan playing enough with their dynamic on their own, and him barely having to lift a finger. Still though, he knew that they needed just that bit of extra force. 

"And me actually saying to the two of you what don't you like about it really made feel--how do you, how is your guys' friendship going though?" Ryan stumbled. 

Steven concealed his slight surprise. Ryan had shifted so quickly from possibly letting slip admitting to his obvious jealousy, to putting the focus back on Steven and Shane that Steven once again felt like he got whiplash. 

"Have you guys still not hung out once outside the office?" Ryan inquired. Ryan wasn't even trying to be subtle. To Steven, this felt like silly high school relationship antics all over again. Shane mentioned that Steven and he had hung out during the work day.

"Have you hung out outside of work hours?" Ryan pressed, fixated on the idea of Shane and Steven spending time together away from the office. Steven could only wonder at what sort of overblown suspicions were racing through Ryan's mind. 

Shane confirmed they hadn't hung out outside of work. Steven didn't really mind that much. Starting a new company had all of them incredibly busy, leaving them exhausted by the time they could take even the smallest of breaks. It also generally took Steven awhile to get close to people, especially co-workers. He liked to establish a balanced working relationship before getting comfortable enough to develop friendships with colleagues. As he watched Ryan's increasingly anxious expression, Steven tried to approach things from another angle. 

"You know what it is though, it's like--" Steven began before Ryan cut him off. 

"You tell me what it is. Shane, be quiet," Ryan ordered, his voice taking on a lower tone. 

"I mean, to be fair--" Shane tried before Ryan interrupted him. 

"Hey, it's his time to speak!" Ryan exclaimed, pointing at Steven. Shane mumbled before going quiet, dropping his gaze. Steven defended his turn to talk in an effort to put a bit more pressure on the dynamic. At the same time, Ryan was doing a lot of the work for him. Steven felt like he was on trial with Ryan the persecutor trying to pull out information from him of an expected hidden tryst between Shane and himself. Steven decided to stir the pot even more. 

"You don't shit where you eat?" Steven said, and now it was Shane's turn to choke on his coffee. Steven feigned scrambling for a defensive explanation, but his true intent was to indicate that he didn't like mixing work with friendship. It was true to an extent, but he knew his wording would throw off Shane and definitely draw out a reaction from Ryan. 

Ryan pointedly looked at the camera, stating that the office was a safe space to express any opinion in an effort to continue on with the couple's counseling joke. Steven could see the delight on Ryan's face at the dissatisfaction in Shane's expression. 

"So hanging out with me is equivalent to shit--" Shane accused before the camera operator cut and the director told them they really needed to tone down the swearing. They were on a tight schedule so filming quickly resumed before they could discuss things off camera. 

"How do you feel about what Steven just said?" Ryan asked, his eyes fixed closely on Shane. 

"I mean to be fair I don't hang out with a lot of people outside of work," Shane defended. 

"You hang out with me," Ryan pointed out and Steven could feel the tension rising between them. 

"When's the last time we hung out outside of work?" Shane asked. Steven knew that the precarious nature of starting their own company had them spending more time together than ever before and had them all simultaneously increasingly excited and stressed. He wondered if perhaps that increased closeness and time together frightened Shane and Ryan, thinking back to what Sara had told him. 

"Last night," Ryan responded. 

"No. That's not true," Shane shot back. 

"I was there," Ryan replied darkly. He was doing that thing again where he held a finger against his lip while he spoke and gazed intensely at Shane. Steven wasn't sure if it was a subtle bit of intentional flirting, or if it was an unconscious expression of desire. 

"You didn't know," Ryan deadpanned. 

Shane laughed incredulously. "Wait what?" he asked, a nervous tinge to his voice. 

Another cut, this time from their producer, telling them to keep the show moving. 

"I thought we would leave this sort of vibe on the other channel," Shane said to Ryan, and whether he was referring to a more "spooky" feel or something deeper than that, Steven wasn't sure. However, as they were on a tight schedule, Steven quickly cut in, to talk about Patreon's exclusive bonus material. 

The episode then took a more serious turn, as Ryan talked about the death of one of his childhood heroes. Shane commented on the fact that Ryan was not well when they had done their live stream and the news was still fresh. He quickly clarified that Ryan had had an understandable reaction. Shane and Steven respectfully gave Ryan the space to talk. Ryan's eyes appeared glassy as he did so, and Shane's expression softened. Ryan concluded by encouraging the audience to call their mom or their best friends, to tell someone they admire that they admire them. 

"Didn't call me," Shane said quietly, letting out an awkward laugh. 

Steven didn't know if he was supposed to laugh at that or not, but allowed himself to do so when he noticed Ryan smiling. 

"That's true, I didn't call Shane, but he already knows I hate him," Ryan joked as he reached out and clapped Shane on the knee.

Steven stared as he took another sip of his coffee. It occurred to him how easily the word "admire" could be replaced with the word "love." The three of them then went on to mention how much they appreciated one another the rest of their staff, and that was certainly true. Steven was thankful that in running their own company, they now had the time and space to offer their crew that recognition. 

Without warning, Steven felt Shane place a hand on his shoulder. 

"I appreciate this hand on my shoulder," Steven said aloud, again out of habit, although he knew this was part of their pull. 

"Stop pointing out when people touch you, it's really weird," Ryan complained and Shane laughed in reply. There was an undercurrent of irritation to Ryan's voice as Shane had taken the upper hand. 

"You're the only person I've ever met who when I hug them says "You're hugging me," that's strange," Ryan went on. Steven spotted that opening and immediately went after it. 

"Because you never hug me," Steven replied casually. 

"You know what Steven? You're right," Ryan said, standing to his feet. Steven could already tell he was in for some more awkward physical contact, but it was worth it as the tension continued to rise between Shane and Ryan. 

"Oh, is this a moment?" Shane asked, voice taking on that high pitch it did when Shane was trying to conceal his emotions beneath humor. 

"Bring it in here, bring it in here Blueberry Boy, let's go," Ryan said, arms stretched out toward Steven. Ryan pulled Steven into a hug, and Steven saw the jealousy burn in Shane's eyes as he struggled to keep a neutral expression. Another opportunity and Steven was seizing it. 

"You just watch him," Steven remarked to Shane as Ryan pulled back. 

Ryan repeated that phrase with a laugh and Shane's gaze fell to his phone. 

"I'm not going to partake--" Shane began in a futile effort to appear nonchalant about the whole thing. 

"You too," Ryan interrupted, getting up to hug Shane. 

"Alright, okay, alright, there you go," Shane said, an awkward strain to his voice as Ryan's arms encircled him and he draped on arm around Ryan. They awkwardly patted one another on the back, and Steven sneakily placed a hand on Shane's shoulder before Ryan sat down again. He was positively running with this now. 

Shane's jaw dropped as he tried to comment as quickly as possible. "That was a surprise cause I thought it was your hand and I was like, "What's happening?" he said to Ryan. It was a peculiar way to put the other's jealousy at ease, to be sure, especially since Steven had watched them try to go out of their way to make the other one jealous for so long. 

They went on to discuss the positive audience response to "Homemade" and their new show "Top 5 Beatdown." Of course, more inevitable joking around ensued, with Shane and Ryan starting to argue over whether or not Shane was a contrarian. 

"What's true?" Ryan inquired. "The perception of everyone around you or your own percep--"

Steven cut him off then to encourage the audience to watch tomorrow and Shane became overly animated once again. Steven could tell when the producer wanted them to wrap up their banter and get on with the show. Ryan's question had heavy meaning behind it, and based on Shane's reaction, Steven knew it had hit him hard. 

They went on to introduce Tony, the director of "Homemade," and he moved to sit in the chair, while Ryan had to move to the couch. Steven and Shane scooted over to make room for him, and Steven watched as Shane took the opportunity to look Ryan up and down, trying not to make it obvious that he was doing so. Steven was thankful for the opportunity to be able to showcase a valued member of their crew, especially Tony who he loved working with. He could tell Shane and Ryan were enjoying it too, but also noted that they were both distracted. 

Shane initially had his arm resting on the back of the couch behind Steven, as if trying to lean away from Ryan. However, as their interview with Tony went on, Ryan and Shane ended up closer, arms pressed together, and Steven further away. At one point, Shane shifted on the couch, his hand lightly brushing across Ryan's arm, and he quickly feigned scratching his eye to cover it up. Steven certainly  
had at least some room to move over more so they weren't quite so squished together, but neither of them complained. 

Shane pulled up his phone later on in the show when it came time to answer viewer questions. This time, Shane read several comments from viewers as well. One of their YouTube comments mentioned that Watcher was better and more professionally done than Buzzfeed: Unsolved, noting that it was a departure from the normal chaotic energy between Shane and Ryan. Ryan asked who it was and when Shane revealed the name, Ryan delivered a very sarcastically "thankful" reply. 

Shane talked about how the comment spoke to their dynamic, and Steven didn't know if Shane meant the three of them or just Ryan and him. Shane mentioned that he was inspired by Steven's shows, and Steven watched as Ryan's face fell. He didn't take it personally, knowing the reaction was more of a reflection of Ryan's jealousy than anything else and his next childish comment confirmed that. 

"What about mine?" Ryan interrupted in a low voice. 

Soon after it was time for their musical guest, and then the show was wrapping up. Shane, Ryan, and Steven thanked their musical guest and the crew, helping to put things away and reorganizing equipment. Once the rest of the staff had gone home, only the three of them remained. Ryan and Shane exchanged looks and Steven took that as his cue to step away, staying nearby of course. 

Shane and Ryan stared at one another for a long time, Shane with his hands shoved in his pockets and Ryan with his arms folded tightly across his chest. Steven watched with bated breath as Shane let out an awkward chuckle, and opened his mouth to speak.


End file.
